


Curse of the Mended Bow

by zorlia



Series: The Broken Quiver [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avenger Team Feels, Clint is a mother bear, Clint's Grandma Is Small But Will Fight You, Or an overprotective hawk, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, in the beginning at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 12:12:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14449044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zorlia/pseuds/zorlia
Summary: Clint Barton thought himself as a relatively normal person. When discounting his job experience, current profession, roommates, childhood, and apocalypse-ready grandmother, Clint was just as average as a random citizen in New York.He was human.Or so he thought.





	Curse of the Mended Bow

_2017:_

Evie wasn't like most when it came to her birthday. It came with mixed feelings with each passing. On the one hand, it meant one more year she survived. Demigods are lucky to live past thirteen to sixteen, let alone ninety-six. Yet, it also meant another year without Frankie, Clinton, and most of her friends from the old days. The only people from her childhood that were left were Chiron, Steve, and James. One was a centaur hero trainer with little free time and the other two superpowered soldiers working as modern day Clark Kents. It didn't leave much time for reminiscing. Still, she wouldn't let her bittersweet feelings get in the way of the fun.

And what fun there was to be had. Clint, as always, hyped the affair as if it was a national holiday. He corralled the entire band of misfits into visiting her home, squeezing all six into the small space. There was no shortage of streamers, balloons, snacks, and presents. And party hats. She shouldn't forget the party hats. Twice she had to fend off her grandchild from sticking one on her head, his own nearly tilting off his head and only saved by the string holding it in place.

Tony, Clint, and Thor were all banned from the kitchen. Tony had attempted to 'upgrade' her oven to better bake her cake the other night. He didn't succeed in making it work any faster, but he _did_ give a personal AI that had a testy attitude when one shut the door too hard. Evie would have been right furious if it wasn't for the scolding he got from Steve.

“We've gone over this Tony. Remember what happened with Thor's toaster? Or the freezer?” Tony looked truly repentant, though he quickly rose to defend himself.

“Joey and Sam are just misunderstood and have no need for your judgment.” Steve gave the inventor a weary stare, not blinking as Clint let out a curse when the oven actually  _hiss_ at him. To be fair he was about to make a truly abysmal concoction that would have likely killed all of them.

“Joey tried to kill Thor and Sam once filled the kitchen with ice.” Tony winced, mouth twisting. A moment later he smiled hopefully at Steve.

“It was April Fools?” Steve shook his head and pointed to the kitchen.

“Fix it.” Evie, who had been sitting in her recliner the entire affair, had suddenly wished for a bowl of popcorn. Tony sighed dramatically and left, sending Evie a wink as he passed. The suaveness was ruined by his shouting exclamation at what seemed to be the start of a war between Clint and the oven.

And thus Clint was banned. Evie could have told them to do that in the first place really.

Thor, the big lug, was perhaps unfairly judged. All he wanted was to make breakfast on Evie's big day. Sadly, Evie's kitchen was much more downgraded from the Tower's and he had a hard enough time with that one as it was.

The mess that greeted Evie was of such a proportion that it surpassed the incident from June of '62. Evie hadn't thought that possible. She mentally gave him points of valor just on the sheer scale of it, but still banned him from the kitchen for all eternity. Cherie, the newly named oven, fully agreed.

Their saving grace came in the duo team of Natasha and Bruce. The two were quick to cut off all access to the kitchen and tag teamed the effort of cooking the dinner and cake. Evie was glad, happy to be free of cooking and dishes for once.

It came with the downside of needing to babysit the others, however. Steve had been put on the duty of wrangling Tony, who liked to wander all over the house in horrified confusion at the lack of tech. Clint had challenged James and Thor to a Monopoly tournament, which quickly turned into a fierce competition when Tony had found out and joined. If she wasn't mistaken, she saw Clint look at Tony's quickly rising stacks of money consideringly. Evie had been given the honor of banker and had looked the other way when he slipped a few hundreds into his pile. It was only fair, given James had tricked Thor into a terrible deal and stopped any chance of the prince of winning. Funnily enough, Tony was the only fair player. Evie mentally disqualified Thor, given he was playing up his cluelessness for his own hijinks  
 .

And Tony was still winning.

Truly it was the most amusing and lively birthday she had in a long time. Sitting beside her on the loveseat, Steve watched with a shaking head as he watched the train wreck of a game. After one more turn when Clint once again got sent to jail, the man let out a howling growl.

“That's it!” He turned to Evie and stuck a finger towards her accusingly. “You've been bought out! All these guys are cheating and the deck is stacked!” Evie snorted and lifted a brow imperiously.

“I'm being as fair at the lot of you are.” Her eyes narrowed and Evie lifted her cane in a semi-threat. “If you don't want to lose that finger, I suggest you drop both it and the attitude.” Clint gaped while the others all laughed, Tony's surprised exclamation at the reveal of the cheating getting drowned out.

“I'm not your favorite anymore, am I?” Clint pouted. Evie hummed and pretended to think about it, a sly smile twitching on her face.

“Well, Thor was a great help when it came to the garden-” Evie huffed out a laugh as Clint let out a war cry and lunged for the smiling Thor. The wrestling match was started, somehow dragging Tony and James within it as well.

“If you all wanted to play twister, I have that game as well.” She cackled out. Steve was smiling wider than she ever saw, tears crinkling in his eyes at his mirth. Evie shook her head at the ridiculousness. It was as if Clint never grew up and he had invited his group of friends for a sleepover. A novel comparison considering that he never did that when he was younger. It warmed Evie's heart as if filling it with missing memories that were lost. Clint was such a troublemaker, if with a heart of gold. If she didn't know better she'd think him one of Hermes' brood. It must be Clinton's influence from beyond the grave.

“I leave for three minutes.” Evie turned and smiled wryly up at the amused Natasha. She watched the gangle of limbs on the floor with a slow shake of her head. From the looks of both Clint and Tony, Steve was going to be recruited to the floor as well. A second later and Evie's prediction came true as James snatched Steve's leg and hauled him in with a plea to 'help a pal out'.

“I think Clint stopped aging mentally at thirteen.” Evie offered. “He's like a modern-day Peter Pan with all that energy.” You could bottle it up and sell the stuff for millions. Evie let the boys play around for a bit longer. When they grew too close to the shelving stand next to the TV she decided to call it off.

“Knock it off before I show you just where Clint got his talent from!” There was a sudden flash from Natasha who had pulled out a camera from out of nowhere. The scene she captured must have been hilarious. The boys all paused in their actions, revealing the comical sight of Steve holding Thor in a headlock, Clint shoving a foot in both Steve and James' stomachs while trying to give Tony, who was just about bite Clint's arm off, a noogie.

“Happy birthday Gran.” Natasha said with a smile, slinking off to the kitchen. Evie laughed at what happened just sunk in for the boys. Natasha always loved Evie's birthday purely for the amount of blackmail she could garner on Clint. Now she had more victims to the cause. Truly a woman after Evie's heart.

As the boys untangled themselves Tony pointed to the shelving unit they almost rolled into. “What is that? I figured you as a more...deadly collector.” He paused with wide eyes, as if afraid he misspoke. “You know, what with the spy twins and the magical place you get those knives.” The ones he still couldn't figure out the metal for. Evie looked at the shelves idly. They were filled with numerous ceramic figurines, vases, or trays. She rolled her eyes fondly.

“That,” She started. “Is what my husband called art. For every one of my birthdays and our anniversaries he made one of those. He said he'd only stop until he made the 'perfect piece that matched a beauty such as yours'. The sap.” The pieces truly were ugly. Nothing a child of Apollo, God of the arts, would be proud for. Evie would tease him mercilessly each time, mock grumbling at the gifts.

“He bought that shelf and put a new one on there each time, grinning because he thought himself the next Michelangelo.” Her smile softened against her will. Those were some of the last things she had of Frankie. After he died it was hard to look at them, but she couldn't bring herself to get rid of the collection. After Clint came there a few things added, awards for his archery and a few framed pictures. She added the painting that Steve made of her, Clinton, and Frankie. To her, it made the whole thing complete. All her loved ones in one place. Though, she mused in her head ruefully, there might be cause to add a few more people to that list. These Avengers were Clint's family now, and that in turn made them Evie's.

Later, when the cake was finished and everyone was gathered in the sitting room with plates and presents, a curious thing happened. On the entertainment center that her TV was nestled in, there was a small wooden clock. It looked normal to most eyes, and for the most part, it was. What Evie knew that others didn't, was that the clock was synched to the traps in the forest south to her house. If any of the traps were triggered, the clock's small pendulum would stop.

Evie just stopped herself from calling out to Clint the code phrase she taught him when he was younger. When she said it Clint was to go find a hiding spot in any of the hidden caches inside her house. She doubted he'd still follow that rule.

Before she could think of something to do, there was a knocking at the door. The others all looked up in confusion and curiosity, Evie already rising to answer it with a dread inside her heart. It should be impossible. Monsters can't cross the flower ring around her house. It acted as a barrier, protecting her and her guests without fail. A monster shouldn't have been able to get past that.

“It's probably just a door to door salesman Gran,” Clint protested as she rose from her chair. “Don't worry about it.” She ignored him with a growing scowl, shuffling towards the door. In the walkway to the door was a small side table pushed against the wall. Above it was more pictures of Clint and some of the other Avengers that he had sent through the mail. The table was her version of a junk drawer, but inside she kept a single celestial bronze dagger.

“Come on Gran! It's not Scout cookies! It's not the right season!” Evie ignored the bantering as she picked the weapon up. Evie gripped it in her left hand and continued to the door with it hidden behind her back. The knocking had yet to stop.

“You know when the Girl Scouts are coming?” Natasha's voice was closer, meaning she had gotten up. Likely to follow Evie. Sweet, but unnecessary. And a nuisance. If it was a monster then she'd have to deal with their reactions along with killing the thing. Clint would be able to see it for what the being was, but there was no telling with the others. Evie was still on the fence about the Avenger's relations to godly beings. There was a chance they'd see it as a monster, or it's mist-shrouded persona.

“Of course I do.” Clint sounded matter-of-fact, voice much closer than before. A swift glance behind her showed both Clint and Natasha coming into the walkway. Evie frowned further to herself at the development. She turned her head back as she saw Natasha stiffening. She saw the dagger then. Clint wouldn't be long behind her. Evie reached the door and started to unlock it stiffly. Hopefully, it wouldn't turn into too big of a mess. She was getting too old for this.

By the time she had the door unlocked Natasha and Clint had caught up, standing closely at her back. Clint gently moved her struggling right hand and opened the door. Natasha's hand brushed against Evie's left. After a second of hesitation, Evie let the woman take the dagger. It was the smarter thing to do really. Natasha was quicker and would have better reflexes. At least this way she would be using a weapon that will do actual harm. As the door opened Evie straightened her back and steeled her nerves at what could beyond. Whatever it was, it had to be powerful enough to get past the barrier.

All of her imaginings couldn't compare to what was there. It was not a giant hulking beast or a mythical creature from Evie's past. Instead, a simple man stood in the doorway. He was tall, with auburn brown hair and grey eyes. He was smiling crookedly and was holding a small box in his arms.

“You are the tallest Girl Scout I've seen.” Clint quipped lightly. “And the manliest. Sadly, we did not buy any Thin Mints this year. You're looking for Harley's place two miles out.” The man laughed harshly, the smile quirking to the side.

“Aw, look who's grown up. Little circus boy got not only a family but the girl too.” He winked at Natasha. Behind her, Evie could almost hear Clint's breath hitch. She didn't turn to look at her grandson. The man looked familiar to Evie for a strange reason. It put her even more on edge.

“I'm not buying what you're selling.” Evie spoke up with a glare.

  


_1943:_

It was raining. Evelyn shivered as the cool water soaked her clothes. She was kneeling on the ground, staring in defeat at the sight before her. Dimly she heard the sound of leaves crunching behind her. If she wasn't so weary Evelyn would have met the intruder with a knife and a snarl. It was a good thing she didn't though because a moment later Francis crouched beside her. He draped a jacket over her shoulders. It was useless. Everything they had got drenched in the sudden storm.

“We have to leave.” Evelyn flinched at his soft words. It was like nails on a chalkboard for her. This deserved silence. She shook her head fitfully, ignoring the tears that sprung to her eyes. She was tired of crying. It wouldn't do anything.

“Evie-” The name was a cut to her heart.

“We can't just leave him like this!” Evelyn turned to Francis with a wild intensity. He grimaced, carefully not looking at the body beside them. She didn't blame him. Not completely. Honestly, she was more surprised that he could look at her. Because this was her fault. She had just killed his best friend.

Clinton was dead.

“It won't be long until either monsters or nazis find us.” He tried to reason. “We can't bring his body with us and there's no time for a burial.” He didn't mention how they didn't even have the tools to dig a grave. She knew the reality anyway. Evelyn's mind wouldn't shut up about it. Clinton deserved better than this but they couldn't afford more lost time. Pandora's box, now still sitting innocently within their makeshift container, would be a beacon for monsters. All magical items of that power were.

They had to leave.

 


End file.
